Yuletide
by Princess Andromeda II
Summary: "'Tis the season to be jolly" they say. And they're right: Christmas time is a very special time of the year, one that everyone remembers for the following 12 months. So what will happen when the Seven members of the prophecy and their families get together for a special Christmas celebration? So much could go wrong, and so much could go right during this Yuletide season.
1. Part 1

**Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! (Or Happy Thursday if you don't celebrate Christmas.) This is a story that I've been wanting to write for quite a while now, and it's just a story about what will happen to the Seven during Christmas time (hence the title "Yuletide"). Not the most original idea, but I really hope you enjoy it! Here ya go:**

 **December 2015**

"Absolutely not."

"What?!"

"You heard what I said."

"But why not?" he whined, his eyes angled up at her, crocodile tears threatening to form.

"Because I said so," she said with a slight huff, unconsciously flipping her hair over her shoulder. It was such a stereotypically Cali-girl thing to do, and her image would definitely help lead to that, but anyone who truly knew Annabeth Chase would know that she was far from the dumb blondes that seemed to be bred in high schools on the silver screen and TV everywhere in the world. In fact, you didn't really even have to _know_ her to be able to tell the difference, all you had to do was take on look at either her report cards from all of her intense years at school- perfect markings, all down the page- or give a quick glance at her eyes.

Oh, those eyes.

They were big and grey and deep and stormy and intense and intelligent and wise and beautiful and- well, point was, they were enough to make her boyfriend drop anything he was doing at a moment's notice. All it took was one sly wink or a few seconds of eye contact, and _BAM_ : he was a goner.

That's right, the "almighty" Percy Jackson, the guy who was capable of defeating scores of monsters (including the Fury Alecto, the Nemean Lion, the Minotaur [twice], Medusa...); retrieving Zeus's master lightning bolt, Hades's helm of darkness, the Golden Fleece, and the 12th Legion's eagle; fighting the god of war Ares and _winning_ ; beating several Titans and giants, including the Titan lord Kronos and the Giant Hyperion; wielding the sword _Anaklusmos_ (a.k.a. Riptide); being the savior of Olympus, the subject of two prophecies, a member of the Seven, and the only known demigod son of Poseidon; and doing loads of other cool things, in addition to just being incredibly _awesome_...

Yeah, that same guy could be brought down faster than a buttery stack of blue pancakes on a hot summer day when he came in the line of fire of Annabeth Chase's fierce gaze. Although, it was a blessing in disguise, because he figured he was the luckiest guy in the world for never truly having to worry about his girlfriend being able to protect herself, even though he did it all the time already. But there was one more thing nowadays that made Percy feel safer when it came to Annabeth and other guys: something that had nothing to do with her physical strength, and everything with the visual strength that one tiny ring and a few legal documents can do.

In other words, nobody messes with Percy Jackson's wife.

"Look, Seaweed Brain," she hissed, and he automatically stepped back when he heard the spite in her voice. But, upon seeing his reaction, she lowered her voice, and allowed a gentler tone and expression to ease onto face and into the sound of her voice.

"It's just...we've already got so many people coming over. I don't think that we can really afford to have _this_ many guests."

He nodded, as if agreeing, but turned right back around with the conversation and pressed again: "But seriously, why not? I mean, it's not a party without them!"

"Really?" she said in a deadpan voice, the gentle tone gone. "So you won't be able to enjoy the party at all if your cousin and his wife from Montana, who you have only seen _twice_ in your entire lifetime, don't come?"

Grinning like a madman, he nodded enthusiastically, the zeal and excitement plain on his face. "Exactly!"

Annabeth sighed, rubbing her fisted hands against her eyes. She not only _looked_ tired, but she _sounded_ really tired too. You could easily hear it in her ragged voice. If that wasn't a tip-off, then the fact that she wasn't really willing to argue with him certainly was. After all, nobody argued like they did; it was their specialty.

"Hey hey hey..." he said soothingly, tenderly grasping her shoulders with his hands, lowering himself slowly onto the leather sofa in their den, and pulling her down gently with him. "What's the matter, Wise Girl? You okay?"

"Y-yeah," she stuttered slightly, the tiny tremor in her voice and the subtle sniffle betraying her claim. Clearly she was not okay.

"Come on, Wise Girl. Tell me what's wrong."

"Well...it's just..." Her breathing was ragged and shaky as she let out a big exhale. "This party is turning into such a big ordeal. When I suggested we throw a holiday party, I didn't really think that we would be going to these lengths and inviting so many people. I had kind of hoped that we would just be having a few friends and family over- y'know, all of our close loved ones. But now we're talking about cousins from Montana and a nephew-twice-removed from Kentucky and an ex-step-grandma-in-law from Barbados, and it's all just too much!"

The guest list that Percy had had in his hand this entire time suddenly felt sweaty and gross and...wrong, and he crumpled it up slightly, trying to contain all of the ominous frustration present in the room into this one, tiny little paper ball. He knew in reality that it wasn't the guest list that was the source of all this trouble, but rather he was. He was the cause of all this tension, all this drama. _He_ was the cause of Annabeth's stress.

He opened his mouth to try to say something, _anything_ , to make her feel better, but it appeared that she was on a roll, because she just kept talking, and the tears just kept on falling.

"I mean, I can't _cook_ for all these people! Heck, I can hardly cook for you and me, babe! How on _Earth_ am I supposed to be able to cook for a house full of guests temporarily for one night, if I can't even cook for the two of us? And what happens in a few months, when there's three of us? What's gonna happen then?"

"Shh, shh, shh," he said in a steady voice, trying to calm her down by smoothing her hair, when really his insides were so jumbled up.

Percy felt like the biggest jerk in the history of jerks. How could he be so stupid? Did he really not stop to think at any point what kind of an effect all of this would have on his wife? True, Annabeth was tough- the toughest person he'd ever known, in fact- but the simple truth of the matter is, even the toughest person can begin to crack a bit after they've had loads of pressure heaped onto their shoulders.

Especially when that person is pregnant.

"Hey, Wise Girl," he said, sitting up from his relaxed position. She seemed startled, but didn't look up . "Wise Girl, please look at me." Reluctantly, she met his gaze, their alert green eyes and exhausted grey eyes seeming to bore into each other's. "We don't have to have so many people over. We can make it be a much smaller party. Just our close friends and family."

Annabeth's eyes, which just a moment ago had been weighed down with all the exhaustion and frustration of planning this affair, lit up instantly. They were bright and alert now, as if someone had turned on a switch reading "Be Happy" inside of them.

"Really?" she said, her enthusiasm shining through, clear as day.

He nodded. "Really."

"Oh, _thank you_ Seaweed Brain!" She cried, suddenly throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around him. It caught him off guard at first, but it didn't take him long to get used to the familiar feeling of her in his arms.

"No problem, Wise Girl." They stayed there like that, locked in each other's embrace on the couch and shutting out the world so that it was just the two of them in their own little world, until he finally broke away, somewhat reluctantly, to say:

"Come on, Wise Girl. Let's go tackle that guest list."

 **Hopefully that's enough to** ** _intrigue you,_** **and make you come back for Part 2, which will be up tomorrow, and will be much lighter in content, I promise. I hope you all enjoy your holiday today, and stay safe!**

 **Merry Christmas Eve!**

 **Love,**

 **~Princess Andromeda II**


	2. Part 2

**Chapter 2 is up!...at midnight (where I live). Oh well, it's up on Friday, just like I promised! Thank you SO much to** Crazy Fangirl No. 1 **and** Suzubells **for following/favoriting this story, and to** Crazy Fangirl No. 1, smile, RoboMonkey101, **and** MagicWriterK **for reviewing.** Crazy Fangirl No. 1 **, this chapter is dedicated to you! Please enjoy. :)**

"PERCY!"

"YEAH?"

"DO YOU HEAR THE DOORBELL RINGING?"  
"...YEAH."

"WELL THEN GET THE DAM DOOR!"

"OKAY, OKAY," he yelled back at his wife, all in good fun though, as he abandoned his post at the kitchen stove where the turkey was. Racing towards the front door of their small, comfortable, one-story home. He threw open the door, and was met with a friendly wave and smile

"Hi, Percy!" Piper, being the first to arrive, was the first to greet him at the door. She stepped forward, embracing him tightly with a warm smile on her face. She stepped back to take a look at him, and a teasing smile graced her tanned face. "My, my, my, Percy," she tsked, appraising his outfit choice as she looked him up and down with her kaleidoscope eyes. "What an...interesting fashion choice."

He looked down, feigning self-consciousness, and stage-gasped, "What? You don't like it?"

"Oh, of course I do! It's just that I wouldn't normally peg you for the apron kind of guy."

"You didn't know? I'm surprised at you, Piper Grace! For a daughter of Aphrodite, you certainly know very little about fashion this year!"

She giggled, and shrugged. "My mistake. Jason and I have been so behind on our shopping that I guess I've fallen behind in the fashion trends."

"I'm very disappointed in you, Piper," he teasingly berated her, and she smiled widely. Then, looking behind her and into the group of friends standing in the doorway, he asked, "By the way, where is your husband? Surely old Superman hasn't ditched you for Lois Lane, has he?"

"Not on your life," she grinned with confidence. "He's just parking our car."

"Alright. Well, no use in having you all stand out here in the cold, is there? Come on in! I swear I won't attack," he joked, moving aside so the mishmash of couples could enter his house. Then he placed his hand over his jeans pocket and patted it lightly. "But you better watch out, 'cuz I've got Riptide right here in my pocket! So no funny business!"

"Oh really?" said an elfish-looking man with curly hair and impish features, casually strolling inside, his fiancee Calypso on his arm. "So, that means I can't do... _this_?!"

With that, Leo suddenly tackled Percy in a surprisingly rough manner for such a scrawny adult, and began zapping him with tiny balls of fire. Nothing that would hurt him, just something to slightly singe his hair and make him smell like burnt chicken for the rest of the day. But before he could, um, _burn_ Percy too much, the son of Poseidon employed his fast reflexes and his demigod powers, dousing the wacky son of Hephaestus with a dozen gallons of water as he flipped him over onto his back.

"Hey!" sputtered the elf-like man as Percy stood up, leaving him to drown in his own embarrassment and failure on the floor.

"While he's recovering, would anybody like to come sit in the living room? The entryway is no place to hold a party." The green-eyed host then offered his arm to Piper jokingly and led the others around the struggling blacksmith on the ground. "Leo, when Jason comes in, please let him know where we are, and also please clean up the mess whenever you're done. That water _can't_ be good for these wood floors."

Leo squinted at his old friend beneath a mop of soggy hair, the curly tendrils so wet that they appeared straight and droopy, before breaking into a light-hearted grin and offering the demigod a big thumbs-up.

"Annabeth!" called Percy as he and his guests passed through the kitchen and into the living room. "Gods, where on Earth _is_ that woman?" he muttered to himself, before calling for her again. "Annabeth! Oh Annabeth! Annaaaaaaabeth! Annabeth! Anna- oh, there you are, honey!"

The daughter of Athena tapped her foot impatiently, and her husband gulped nervously. "Uh...hey, sweetie. Um. Look! We have guests! Uh, I think Jason's still outside, and Leo's still rolling around on the floor somewhere, but why don't you say hi to Piper and Calypso while we wait? And, in the meantime, I can, uh..." He looked around desperately for some sort of excuse to escape his wife and her potential wrath, but was saved from having to make something up as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" he exclaimed, leaping up so fast that Piper fell off the couch from surprise.

Rolling her eyes but letting a small grin escape, Annabeth stepped forward to hug each guest individually, and to help Piper up from her sprawled position on the floor. "My crazy husband. Anyway, how are you two doing?" Percy heard her say as he left the room.

 _Yes!_ He thought as he passed Leo's drunken stance on the floor. _Another incident with Wise Girl survived!_ He reached for the knob, Leo's overdramatic complaints in the background, and opened the door.

"GAH!" he cried as he was greeted not by guests, but by an avalanche of gifts, all in different sizes, shapes, colors, and _weights._ "Oh my gods..." he groaned as he lay, nearly crushed by all the presents, on the floor, a rather large, spherical gift having landed right on his _sensitive_ parts. "Who the Hades gives a _bowling ball_ for a Christmas present?!"

"Sorry, Percy," apologized a tall man with blond hair, the scar above his lip moving as he talked. "But I was outside parking the car when Frank and Hazel showed up, and they had a lot of presents, so I offered to help. But gosh, that's certainly a steep step into the house, isn't it? I tripped right over it! My bad though."

"Ugh, it's alright, Jason," wheezed Percy, still slightly clutching his injured area, as another tall, broad-shouldered man- this one slightly buffer than the last- stepped forward and offered his friend a hand up.

"Thanks, Frank," Percy told his Asian/Canadian friend. "But seriously you guys, never give something that heavy as a Christmas present again, okay?" But then, his poker face faded, and the serious facade was replaced with a welcome grin. "Merry Christmas, you guys. Come on in!"

"It's so great to see you, Percy!" Hazel squealed as she entered and embraced him, her dark curls bouncing with excitement, her golden eyes nearly molten they were shining so bright.

"You too, Haze," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder in a protective, big-brother way. He maneuvered her and the other two male guests past Leo, and told them to "Forget about it" when they gave him inquiring looks about the drunk-looking son of Hephaestus, who was now nearly delirious with laughter.

When they entered the living room, the male host and his three newly-arrived guests saw that the hostess was engaging Piper and Calypso in an intense conversation, about what, nobody knows. It all just sounded like babbling and gibberish, mixed with just a hint of Greek and Latin, to give it the perfect combination of "I Have No Idea What The Hades You're Talking About." When Annabeth noticed who all had come into the room, she first hugged everyone in turn, telling them she was so happy they could come, then she did a head-count of all gathered in the kitchen. Her joyful expression morphed before everyone's eyes as she and they all realized who _still_ hadn't bother to enter the living room, and that apparently really ticked the hostess off.

"Calypso," she said stiffly, turning to her friend slowly. "Would you mind if I yell at your husband for a second?"

The caramel-haired woman with dark, almond-shaped eyes grinned widely, revealing her blinding pearly whites. "Of course not. Knock yourself out!"

With no hesitation whatsoever, Annabeth stood up and called to the son of Hephaestus, "LEO! Stop laughing and get your fiery butt in here now before I get my husband to douse out your lights again!"  
Upon hearing that, Percy smirked in spite of the fact that Annabeth "depended" on him to beat up guys for her, even though he knew that wasn't true in the least. Rolling her eyes, the son of Poseidon's wife disappeared from view as she marched into the other room. Nothing could be heard but rustling and a colossal din that consisted mainly of Leo begging for mercy.

"That Leo," Jason said, chuckling at the extreme noises that could be heard from the other room. "He's always got such a big mouth until someone calls him out on it."

"What a turkey," Calypso sighed, rolling her eyes but smiling all the same at her fiance's antics.

"Chicken."

"What?"

"It's chicken," said Hazel, slightly embarrassed apparently, since her cocoa skin suddenly took on a peculiar hue. "When someone is a coward, you call them a chicken, not a turkey."

"Oh. Sorry, I'm still getting used to some of the more modern terms, I guess."

"You and me both, girl!" Hazel laughed, accepting the high-five that the Titan's daughter offered her.

"What's wrong, Percy?" Frank asked out of the blue. "Gee, you don't look too good." And suddenly all attention was on the son of Poseidon, his face white as a sheet, paler than Nico di Angelo, even.

"Crap."

"What?" Piper mirrored everyone's thoughts, dumbfounded.

"Turkey."

"Yeah...and?" she prompted, as if talking to a 3-year old. It seemed impossible to get anything more than one-word answers out of him. She didn't know how Annabeth did it, honestly.

"I forgot about the turkey!" Percy cried, leaping up from his easy position on the sofa's arm and racing for the door.

"Oh snap," breathed Hazel. "Annabeth's gonna _kill_ him."

 **Gee, I wonder what will happen! Only way to find out is to read tomorrow's chapter! Btw, in case I forgot to mention it, I'm doing one chapter for the Twelve Days of Christmas. So 2 chapters down, 10 to go! If you have any ideas for this story, please leave a review, and if you just want to tell me how your Christmas was or if you got anything special, just tell me in a review or PM me. I'm a good listener! Thanks for reading, everyone.**

 **I hope you had a** ** _very_** **Merry Christmas!**

 **Love,**

 **~Princess Andromeda II**


	3. Part 3

**Hey guys! Lookie- it's Chapter 3! Yay! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, and that it wasn't as melancholy ($ word) as the first. But I promise this story is supposed to be light-hearted and fun, so the rest will be like that. A massive thank-you to** jesuscortez735 **and** dmmjel **for following,** brinney **for favoriting, and** ifoundalaskay, Crazy Fangirl No. 1, Brittany Jackson, **and** MagicWriterK **for the amazing reviews. I love you guys! Vamos...**

"Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Oh my gods oh my gods oh my gods oh my gods!"

"What? Dude, what?" Leo, who had finally stopped laughing over _who knows what,_ brushed himself off and asked his friend inquisitively.

Percy, who was nearly halfway out the door, skidded to a stop and whirled around to face the elfish man. "Bro, I am _such_ an idiot."

"And man, seriously, you look really stressed and sweaty. Take chill pill." He snorted loudly, laughing at the joke that probably made a whole lot of sense in his somewhat demented mind.

"I am such an idiot," the son of Poseidon repeated, ignoring his friend's antics.

"What? Why?" the mentioned asked as he furrowed his brow. He seemed to have gotten over what was so funny, but it was entirely likely that he could crack himself up all over again in a matter of seconds, even if someone sneezed or if a baby died somewhere on the other side of the world. Then again, his humor- although slightly absurd- was what made the son of Hephaestus so likable.

"I completely forgot about the turkey!" cried Percy, throwing his arms up in the air. Leo, for once, hadn't been kidding; the guy really _did_ look stressed out.

"Really? That's it?"

Percy stared at him wide-eyed. "What do you mean? 'That's it?'"

"I mean, it just doesn't seem like that big of a deal, y'know? In the end, it's just a bird." He chortled, a sign that he was on the verge of another laughter meltdown. "If you want one of those so bad, you could just make Frank turn into some kind of bird and eat _him_!"

"Okay, that's it, you're certifiably insane." When he got no response from his friend except another ugly snort, Percy continued, "But you don't get it. Annabeth will kill me. Literally _kill_ me," he added when the curly-haired guest looked at him incredulously, doubt clear in his mischievous eyes.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot how she is when she plans events like this. She gets even more stressed than you do, which is a pretty big accomplishment."

"Thanks for the _encouragement_ , 'pal'." Shaking his head and ignoring the friendly jab, Percy protested, "But it's not _just_ the party-planning. She's been stressed a lot lately, for a lot of reasons. Like the baby-"

The son of Poseidon stopped suddenly, realizing that he had almost given away a vital secret, one that, if he _had_ let it slip, Annabeth really would have killed him.

"Did you just say baby?" asked Leo, his eyes a fiery mix of confusion and of potential excitement. Percy had to douse that flame in his friend's eyes before he got discovered the secret and told everyone, while the news would no doubt spread like wildfire, literally. Then they really _would_ have a fire on their hands, especially if Leo got too excited and accidentally set either the house or himself on fire.

"Um...no. No, I didn't. I was going to say...uh...baby...shower. Yeah, a baby shower."

Leo was no fool, and the look in his eyes said he didn't quite believe his friend, so Percy had to convince him otherwise, so he got deeper into explanation. "See, Annabeth has been really stressed out about this baby shower she's been planning for my mom's... husband's... sister's... son's... wife, is having." _Does that even make sense?_ He wondered. _Let's see: My mom's husband's sister's son's wife...yeah, that's good enough._

"Okaaaaay," said Leo slowly. "Well, um, I think I'm just gonna step into the other room with the _normal_ people. You go get that turkey while I 'smooth-talk the ladies'," he said with a cheeky grin and a wink, forming a hand pistol and firing an invisible bullet at Percy.

The son of Poseidon rolled his eyes for his friend's borderline-obnoxious confidence, but then grinned at him and flashed a peace-sign at him as he realized what he was supposed to be doing. With that, he took off into the lowering sun to buy a turkey, his feet thumping against the pavement and his shadow bouncing along with his shoulders.

 _Meanwhile..._

"Look at him run!" exclaimed Calypso, as she and her three friends watched from the window. They vigilantly watched his receding shadow, grins lighting up their faces.

Annabeth scoffed, her arms folded stubbornly in front of her chest. "Yeah, he better run, if he knows what's good for him."

Being the good, close friends that they were, of course the three female guests had filled in Annabeth on what had happened as soon as she got back from scolding Leo. She said all she'd seen when passing from the front room to the kitchen, which the girls had now moved into for their social time, was "a streak of black hair and green eyes" that suspiciously resembled her husband. Boy, had she been annoyed when they'd told her that he'd completely forgotten the most important aspect of the food, which was, of course, the turkey.

She'd cooled off a little bit since then, though, and now sat on a stool in the kitchen with her three best friends in the world, talking and laughing. Each girl had a holiday beverage of some sort in her hand- Annabeth, being the perfect hostess that she was, had seen to that the moment the female guests stepped foot into the kitchen. Hazel had her eggnog, which apparently "reminded her of her childhood"; Piper had her complicated order of coffee- from Starbucks, no less (which was odd, considering how much the daughter of Aphrodite rebelled against all stereotypes of that nature)- that was apparently essential for her to stay awake; Calypso had a good old-fashioned glass of coconut milk that she said she'd always had on her island Ogygia; and Annabeth, never the one for anything too outlandish but always very cozy and warm, held in her hands a steaming cup of hot chocolate, contained in a decorative Christmas mug, of course. The cocoa recipe had been given to the blonde-haired woman by Percy's mother, Sally Jackson herself-"cooking extraordinaire," as he lovingly called her- and it consisted of puffy marshmallows, melted chocolate chips, and rainbow sprinkles all heaped onto a glorious mound of whipped cream. And, to top it all off, a red-and-white-striped candy cane was stuck into the center of the mountain of toppings, as if added in as a side note. Whatever the case, it was what Annabeth considered the perfect cup of cocoa, and she now cradled the mug in her hands, the heat warming her cold fingertips, and idly used the candy cane to stir the mixture.

"I didn't know he could go so fast!" Hazel said, her mouth hanging open and her gold eyes widened, tinted with the shimmer of delight.

"Me neither! I guess I didn't realize that he was still in such good shape after all these years," supplied Piper as she too gazed out the window, open-mouthed. "I mean, Jason- Good Ol' Sparky- still runs on the treadmill every morning, but even he... Well, what does Percy do? Run a daily marathon?!"

The daughter of Athena allowed a small, satisfied smile to creep onto her face as she slurped from her cup of hot chocolate. She may have been a little annoyed with her husband, but it still didn't hurt to hear how lucky she was to have him. Maybe when he came back- with the turkey, of course- she would say she was sorry for yelling at him all afternoon and only making the situation worse... But _only_ if he returned with the turkey.

"Something like that," she said as mysteriously and smugly as she could.

"You girls talking about me?" Leo asked cockily, swaggering into the kitchen from the living room. Annabeth presumed that he had exchanged a word or two with her husband before he had made a mad dash from the house to fetch the turkey.

"You wish," Calypso mocked, playfully pushing her fiance's shoulder and then, almost as an afterthought, giving him a loving peck on the cheek. Annabeth had noticed that as of the two's engagement, her female friend had become slightly jittery and nervous, and visibly unsure about how to handle her and Leo's relationship: all of the when's and where's and why's and how's. Stuff that showed that the prospect of actually getting married after thousands and thousands of years- to Leo Valdez, the funny yet insane mastermind, no less- was finally beginning to catch up to her.

"What can I say? I know my fanbase. I'm widely popular all over the place, especially up on Olympus, or so I hear," he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Calypso giggled, but Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

"Leo, if you're looking for Frank and Jason, then I'm pretty sure they're in the _other room_ ," she stressed, using her head to nod for emphasis. And either Leo had gotten really good at picking up on conversation undertones as of late or he just happened to actually want to find his two male friends, but he actually nodded with a _thank-you_ , and exited after quickly kissing his fiancee on the lips. As he exited, he whistled a familiar tune, and Annabeth strained to recognize it, and when she pinpointed it, she groaned slightly with annoyance.

" _I'm Sexy And I Know It"_

Cue the eye roll.

 **So...how did you like it? Please leave me a review and tell me what you think: will Annabeth ever finish her cocoa? Will Percy ever get the turkey in time? Will Leo ever get a better laugh? Will I ever get a Coke can with my name on it? Probably not (for the last one at least) but we can still pretend...So, to recap: Review! Follow! Review! Favorite! Review! Vote! Review! REVIEW! Bye!**

 **Love,**

 **~Princess Andromeda II**


	4. Part 4

**Here's Ch. 4, you guys! Sorry it's up kinda late, but it took longer to write than I expected. But it's the longest chapter for this story so far, so I really hope you enjoy it. Thank you to** darkmagician751 **for favoriting,** logwet **and** TwoLlamas **for following** , **and** darkmagician751, Crazy Fangirl No. 1, **and** ifoundalaskay **for your amazing reviews. You guys rock!**

"Comin' through!"

"Young man, that is _very_ rude!" chastised a middle-aged woman with a feathered hat on, as Percy raced past her. He hadn't meant to shove her, but apparently he did. "You come back here and apologize straight away."

Percy felt bad about bumping into her, obviously, but he also didn't have time to sit around and get scolded like this. He had a turkey to buy, for gods' sakes! But, after all, she _had_ been blocking the entire aisle, so it was also partially her fault. Plus, this woman who was nowhere near the appropriate age to act like his grandma, had called him "young man". That definitely didn't help.

So, with a simple shrug of his shoulders and an apologetic grimace, the son of Poseidon raced off, throwing his words behind him at her, "Sorry ma'am!" Her annoyed huff resonated throughout the quaint, local grocery store, and though he was already two aisles away from her, he could still hear the sound, but he just rolled his eyes, and kept running, looking like a super-fly character in some epic game of Mario, dodging shopping carts and old ladies and little toddlers and tall security guards like nobody'd ever seen before.

But, as some old famous guy once said, "Twas all for naught."

"Hello, sir," the woman working behind the counter in the meat section greeted.

" _Hi I'm fine thanks how are you nice wow that's great nice to meet you my name is Percy now can you please help me I need to buy a turkey,"_ he got out in a single breath, rushed though it was.

"Whoa, young man." _Why does everyone keep calling me that?_ He wondered. He'd often been told he had a young face, but he was certain that even a guy in his mid-to-late-twenties couldn't be mistaken for a three-year-old _that_ easily. Whatever. He figured there were worse things in life. He of all people would know, after all.

"Would you mind repeating that one more time, but _slowly_ this time?" She asked, a twinkle in her eye as she gave a friendly, motherly wink.

"Yeah, sure, no problem, sorry." He caught himself rushing again, so he tried to calm down and speak like a normal human being for a change. "Urm, I'd like to buy a turkey. Please," he added as an afterthought.

"Alright," she drawled, a strong twang in her words as she typed something into the register on the counter. Judging on her accent and all the friendliness, he figured she must be from down south somewhere. She was pretty friendly, and she looked so worn-out and stressed, he figured he should say something back.

"So...um," he tried, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "You're from the South."

She looked up, surprised. "Why, yes! However did you know?" When he gave her a look along with a gentle shrug, she chuckled lightly and smiled. "Oh, my accent, right? Yep, I suppose that for most folks up here, it's a dead give-away."

"Guess so. Are you doing anything special for the holidays?"

"Nah, not really. Been happily married for just about twenty-five years, and I've got six kids, all of 'em in their thirties now. Used to be real tough to get even a couple presents for 'em when they were younger, but now that they're all grown up and they've got their _own_ kids, it's gotten ten times harder to get toys for all my little grandkids." She looked troubled, but she still managed to smile somehow. Percy thought that for a woman with a lot of wrinkles and a lot of troubles, she had a very nice smile. "We don't have much, but we're the happiest family you ever did see."

"That's great," he supported, then tried to subtly change the topic since the conversation was becoming a little uncomfortable. "How long have you worked here?"

"Oh, just about forty years, I suppose."

" _Really_?" He asked as he leaned his elbow on the counter, and his head rested on his hand. He was getting interested in the conversation now. "That long?"

"Mmhmm," she nodded as she set aside the book- a meat catalog or something- that she'd been flipping through. "Moved up here when I was younger, hopin' to be 'make it big' in the Big Apple. You know, bright lights, big city, the kinda stuff that appeals to young girls."

"Actress or singer?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Actress or singer?" he repeated with a knowing grin. "Most young girls that move up here want to be either an actress or a singer. Which did you want to be?"

"Singer," she returned the smile. "Oh, I loved to sing. Still do. I could belt out any tune you named, and it would be strong and clear too. Not to toot my own horn, of course, but I was pretty damn good, if I do say so myself." She sighed, a bit forlornly. "I remember, it was my dream to become Miss America. And I got pretty darn close, too! Second place in the Mississippi state contest. I've always wondered, what if I had worn my hair a little differently that day? Curled it instead of straightened it. Or if I had worn blue to match my eyes, instead of pink to compliment my complexion. But I wanted to win _so badly_. And when I didn't, I figured the only way to get my record deal was to move up here to New York. I gave up everything I had just to do that much: I cashed in all my money, dropped out of school, left my family...can you imagine that? Me, headin' out on my own at the age of 16 with nothing but a few hundred bucks and a ratty ol' suitcase. Yessir, those were tough times. Oh, but I had some dreams. Big dreams."

A mystifying expression overtook her face, one of nostalgia and reflection, mixed with a little bit of regret. A few beaded tears seemed to collect in the corners of her heavily mascara-bearing eyes. Percy too felt something tugging at the corners of his eyes, though he refused to acknowledge it. Still, he felt so touched by her story and the simple fact that this woman he'd only just met would open up to him like this, that he felt compelled to reach out and hold her hand. He resisted the urge though, figuring that would be pretty creepy.

It seemed that the grocery store employee came to her senses at the same time that Percy did, for she stood up straight, wiping away the "dust in her eye" and went back to typing in the order, his turkey long-sense forgotten.

"So, you said you want a turkey, right? Do you want any glaze on that?" When he shook his head, she nodded, and said, "Alright. I'll wrap it up for you, nice and pretty, so you can take it home to your girl in a big red bow." She offered him another wink.

"Um, this is going to sound like a strange request but, is it alright if I just carry it home?"

"Sure thing, hon, I'll be right back," she said without batting any eye.

 _Maybe that wasn't such a strange request after all,_ he thought.

Giving him yet another cheery wink, she sashayed off, her hips swinging as he was left alone with his thoughts, nothing to do but twiddle his thumbs idly. He looked at the area around him curiously, letting his mind wander as he took in the inexpensive yet homey little grocery store that he was in. On his left was the dairy section, and on his right was the bakery. Standing next to him, a little ways down the counter, was a middle-aged woman with a feather in her hat.

 _Wait a second_ , he thought nonverbally. _I know that lady!_

It was the same woman he had _accidentally_ run into earlier, the one who had scolded him like a little boy. The two of them made eye contact, and her face- heavily caked with all sorts of expensive and undoubtedly-chemicalized makeup- contracted into a weird, ugly sort of haughty expression. It took a minute for Percy realize that that hideous expression was actually a _smile_ , though not a pleasant one at that.

Still grinning at him like a maniac, the woman waltzed up to the counter that the friendly Southern employee had been working at. There was a gleaming brass bell resting on top of the glass counter, and she rung it impatiently (also like a maniac), her well-manicured nails causing the bell to sound out at least thirty different _ding's_ before the prior employee appeared from behind a room in the back. She looked visibly annoyed as she showed up at the counter, and though she smiled at the older female customer, Percy could tell that the smile wasn't genuine because it didn't reach the corners of her eyes like it had before. And there was no wink offered to the customer, only defiantly folded arms and a foot tapping impatiently.

"How may I help you today?" The employee asked, and Percy struggled to hide the smirk on his face that came when she put such vehemence and repugnance in her words.

"I want the most massive turkey you have available in your frigid storage facilities," the woman demanded in that same almighty tone as before, her eyes taking in the Southern employee distastefully.

 _For gods' sakes,_ Percy thought to himself in disgust. _She can't ask for it like a normal human being? Why not just say, 'I want the biggest turkey you have'? And at least say 'please'!_

"Unfortunately, _ma'am_ ," the grocery store employee said, putting almost a sarcastic stress on the latter word, "we have only one turkey left- a rather large one, I might add- and it is reserved for this gentleman here. I'm very sorry." Judging on the satisfied smirk and the particular chosen words that she used, Percy doubted that she was all that sorry.

"So just revoke his order and give it to me!" she cried in an expectant tone. "It's that simple!"

"But ma'am-"

"And _do_ hurry up about it, won't you? I have a hair appointment in half an hour, and I can't afford to be late to it."

"Now see here, _madam_ ," the female employee said, all friendliness in her voice abandoned. "This gentleman has been waiting very patiently, _much_ longer than you have, and the simple fact of the matter is that he asked for the turkey first. Seeing as we only have one turkey left, he gets it, _not you_. No matter how much money they try to bribe us with, how many lawyers they threaten to call, or how many dumb hair appointments they have," she said with a subtle jab, looking pointedly at the woman as she gave a little gasp, "we treat our customers _equally_ , and that is all there is to it. To use your _own_ words, madam, 'It's that simple'."

"Well I never!"

"What a wonderful idea!" cried the employee, a brilliant smile lighting up her face. "How about you do us all a huge favor, and try to never shop here again? Now, have a lovely day, and happy holidays!" She exclaimed as the woman marched away, the feathers on her hat and her boa whipping around fiercely.

"That was," Percy managed to say behind his tears of laughter, " _awesome_."

"Thank you, hon," the worker smiled, her surprisingly white teeth shining. "I try my best. Now, let's get this ol' thing all wrapped up for you. Oh, wait, you didn't want it wrapped, that's right, I'm sorry. Well, you've already paid and all of the checking-out is done, so here you go, son. Go ahead and take it on home to your Mrs."

With a grand sort of finality, she handed the son of Poseidon his preciously sought-out turkey, offering him one of her characteristic winks. Although he was all done and could walk out right now, Percy felt he should say something before he went, whether it was a "thank you" or just a "happy holidays". She must have been thinking something similar, because she said:

"You know what, hon? Thank you for being so sweet. On my life, I never expected anyone to sit there and listen to me and my little ol' sob story, especially not a youngster who's in as much of a rush as you are, I bet." Cue the wink. "But really, I feel much better. It's been years since I've talked to someone like that. Seems that these days everything's just about money and work work work. Talking to you...it's restored my faith that there are still young men out there who are being brought up well."

"Thank-" his first word came out gargly and strangled, evidence that he was on the verge of some emotional tears, so he tried to dry his eyes and clear his throat. "Thank you too, ma'am. It's been a long time since I met someone so friendly, especially in the heart of New York." He chuckled. "We're not known for being the friendliest city, I suppose, but it always brightens my day to meet someone like you. People like you...you're the very heart and soul of this city, of this country, and of the world. I really enjoyed talking to you, ma'am. I really did. I better go now..."

He started to slowly back away, adding as an afterthought, "Thank you, and happy holidays!" He then turned around and began to walk away, but was stopped one last time.

"Young man!" The employee cried, and he realized that he didn't mind being called that this time. She walked around the counter and came out in front, coming up to where he stood. Squinting up at him- she was at least a full head shorter than him, her blonde hair, piled high atop her head, accounting for seemingly half her height- she asked politely, "I didn't quite catch your name. What is it?"

"It's Percy."

"Percy, huh? I'm Debbie."

"Debbie?"

"Debbie," she nodded.

"It was nice to meet you, Debbie," he said, warmly shaking her hand.

"It was nice to meet you too, Percy," she agreed.

And with a polite nod and a friendly wave, Percy Jackson went off running the other way.  
 **So, please tell me what you thought about the chapter, from the plot to the dialogue to the characters. Seriously, I could use some** ** _constructive_** **criticism (key word being "constructive"), because as many of you know, dialogue is one of my weak points. So yeah please review, follow, favorite, vote, and also please have an awesome day!**

 **Love,**

 **~Princess Andromeda II**


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